Verse Lens · Concise explanation
Genesis 40:7 Explained in Context
Use this verse as a doorway into the larger passage—not as an isolated saying.
Verse 7. 7And he asked Pharaoh’s officers that were with him in the ward of his lord’s house, saying, Wherefore look ye so sadly to day?
King James Version — public domain in the United States · Bible text and permissions
Quick Meaning
Joseph asks Pharaoh's officials why their faces look troubled that day. The question shows personal attention to people he is assigned to serve.
Read It With
- Genesis 40:1–23
Read verses 5–8. Verse 5 explains the dreams, verse 6 shows Joseph noticing their faces, and verse 8 gives their answer and Joseph's God-centered response.
Why This Verse Appears Here
His question gives the officials room to name the interpretive problem that Joseph will answer under God's authority.
Read Genesis 40:5–8 together
Why these verses belong together: The paired dreams, visible distress, Joseph's question, lack of an interpreter, and God-centered response belong together.
Verse 5. 5 And they dreamed a dream both of them, each man his dream in one night, each man according to the interpretation of his dream, the butler and the baker of the king of Egypt, which were bound in the prison.
Verse 6. 6 And Joseph came in unto them in the morning, and looked upon them, and, behold, they were sad.
Verse 7. 7 And he asked Pharaoh’s officers that were with him in the ward of his lord’s house, saying, Wherefore look ye so sadly to day?
Verse 8. 8 And they said unto him, We have dreamed a dream, and there is no interpreter of it. And Joseph said unto them, Do not interpretations belong to God? tell me them, I pray you.
What Remains True
A careful question can honor another person's dignity and reveal needs that assigned service alone would miss.
How It Can Shape Life
- Ask before assuming: give distressed people room to describe their experience in their own words.
Continue in Context
The full thought-unit study remains the final contextual authority for this Verse Lens.
Read Genesis 40:1–23 — Joseph Interprets Two Prisoners' Dreams—and Is ForgottenSources used for this Verse Lens
How certain is this explanation? very strong
These are the sources used directly for this lens. Language, grammar, disagreements, and the complete source shelf remain attached to the full thought-unit research record.
Biblical text
King James (Authorized) Version — eng-kjv2006
eBible.org and CrossWire Bible Society
USFM archive eng-kjv2006_usfm.zip; source files dated 2026-08-19; downloaded 2026-08-24; archive SHA-256 aec1b3b26c622fd3d963d2bbac963016b9513246ffbfa20da00bb100372ea007; normalized corpus SHA-256 09aef51d90488aa7b9722b3fd9a93f4b25f6bf2064c5fd798fb39673c300ddf2.
Supports: Displayed text, prison context, paired dreams, fulfillment, forgetting, and later remembrance.
Exact location: Genesis 40:1–23; 39:20–23; 41:1–16 in the pinned standardized 1769 KJV
Open source ↗hebrew text morphology and lemma data
Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible — Genesis
Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible Project
Open Scriptures, Version 2.2 released 2021; repository inspected 2026
Supports: Dream and interpretation terms, downcast faces, head idiom, hesed, emphatic kidnapping, basket wording, dungeon, fulfillment, and forgetting.
Exact location: WLC Genesis 40:1–23, especially vv. 5–8, 12–15, 16–20, 23
Open source ↗Translation and textual notes
NET Bible — Genesis with translators' notes
Biblical Studies Press
Biblical Studies Press, Digital edition accessed 2026
Supports: Court-office limits, service, unspecified custody, downcast faces, interpretation, head idiom and wordplay, hesed, kidnapping, basket proposals, execution wording, birthday, and emphatic forgetting.
Exact location: NET Genesis 40 notes for vv. 1–23, especially court titles, vv. 4–8, 13–16, 19–20, 23
Open NET Genesis 40 ↗